Chicken Soup For The ADA's Soul
by TheClowchan
Summary: Summary: Barba catches the flu and Carisi has to take care of him


**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything or characters from the show

 **Warnings:** Nothing. Just pure, straight up fluff. Also sorry for the terrible, corny title

 **Pairings:** Rafael Barba/Sonny Carisi (Barisi) 

* * *

Perhaps the amount of cases Barba have been doing finally caught up to him. He felt light headed in the office and he could barely pay attention to any of the case notes Benson and Carisi were giving , he didn't feel well for the past few days and he was able to hide it well. This time not so much All he could do was nod his head before grabbing a tissue and coughing in it, really hard, cheeks flushed. He was caught.

" _Barba, you don't look so well. You ok?_ ," Carisi asked.

" _Never better_ ," Barba says sarcastically before laying his head down.

" _Are you even well enough to hear this? What did I even say?_ ," Benson tested him.

" _Um, 2 victims. Something_ ," he mumbles into his arm and coughs again. " _Murders._ "

"Y _ou're definitely sick. Noah gets the same way,_ " Benson leans against his desk. " _You oughta go home. We can continue later since we're still gathering evidence._ "

" _Yes, moooom_ ," Barba said in a cranky tone, slowly gathering his stuff. He truly didn't feel well and he shook slightly, leaving his office.

Carisi checks his watch and looks at Benson, " _Lieutenant, I'll take the counselor home and come right back._ "

Benson looks up, " _I'll have you on call, Carisi. Think of it as a day off._ "

" _Are you sure? I don't want work to be a burden on the others._ "

" _Carisi. I'm sure_ ", Benson picks up a couple folders. "I _know how close you two are. It'll be better for his health if you were there._ "

His blue eyes went wide, whispering, " _I - how did you know? Am I in trouble?_ "

" _Did you forget I'm a detective?_ ," She laughs quietly before looking serious, " _No, now go. That's an order, Carisi._ "

" _Yes, Lieutenant_ ," Carisi picks up his coat and catches up with Barba, who was now shivering. Instinctively, he throws on his coat over Barba's shoulder. "You need this more than me."

" _S- Carisi, I'm fine_ ," Barba said stubbornly.

" _You're shaking so you're not_ ," Carisi said in a more serious tone.

" _Thank you, Sherlock Holmes_ ," he reluctantly takes the jacket. He didn't want to admit it, but the jacket felt warm and cozy and he pulled it closer to him. He looks up, seeing a small smile form on Carisi face, the one he gives when he's right. " _Smartass but my smartass_ ," he thought to himself as he quietly chuckled.

" _Hmmmm?_ ," Carisi hails a cab.

" _Nothing_ ," he says as Carisi helps him into the cab and they head to Barba's apartment.

As soon as Barba enters in, he starts to cough a lot. He was sicker than he thought. He kicks off his shoes, undoes his tie and his vest, and crashes on the couch.

" _Rafi_ ," Carisi grabs a bunch of blankets and a pillow and tucks in Barba, who pouted some.

" _Here_." He's never seen Barba so out of it, so unkempt in that amount of time. He wanted to make him better. He raided Barba's medicine cabinet for cough syrup, aspirin, and the like. He managed to find his ibuprofen that Barba took when he had one of his massive headaches. He filled a cup with water and grabbed the pills. " _Take these. Please_."

Barba coughs again before taking them. He was shocked at how motherly Carisi was towards him, especially when he could be very blunt and brash. He actually liked it.

Carisi feels his forehead, "M _an, you're running a temp. Gonna make you some famous Carisi tea for it._ " He wanders off to the kitchen.

" _Famous? I never heard of it_ ," Barba smirks.

" _That's cause you're too buried in your books to know about it_ ," Carisi giggles, putting on a pot of tea.

" _Got me there, Fordham_ ," he wipes his face with a blanket . Now came the part of the cold where he was freezing and boiling at the same time. He sticks one foot out of the blanket fort and wrapped himself tighter. It looked odd, but it works

"I heard that, Harvard," he brought him a cup of tea. " _Be right back!_ "

" _Ok_ ," Barba sipped his tea, watching him run into the kitchen.

Carisi goes all the way back in the kitchen so he was out of Barba's ear shot as he called Barba's mother. " _Hey, Lucia. Yeah, it's Sonny … I'm good … He's good … I'm startin' to make a book of recipes … Yeah, random I know … Do you have a chicken noodle soup recipe? …. You do? Awesome!_ " He writes everything down. " _Thank you … yes, I will definitely call back for more … Take care. Bye_." He had been going out with Barba secretly for nearly 6 months, but it felt like 2 weeks to him. He didn't want to disappoint him as he followed the instructions for the soup. It smelt good and it tasted good, but Barba could be picky at times with certain foods. He steps back out into the living room, a little awkwardly. " _Ok, I'm not the greatest cook but I tried. Really hard_." Carisi lowers the bowl of soup. " _I borrowed your mother's recipe_."

" _By 'borrowed', do you mean you called her a half hour ago?_ ," he sits up tiredly, clutching a fleece blanket close to him.

" _N-yes_ ," he blushes. " _But I didn't want to do the soup can route, you know?_ " Carisi truly meant it and Barba knew it.

" _Please tell me you didn't tell her I was sick_ ," he reaches for the soup.

" _No. Promise. I told her I wanted to start a cookbook. She seemed happy I called her first._ "

" _Figures._ " Barba smiles before sipping the soup, " _Bueno. It's good._ "

Carisi doubted himself a little, " _Is it? I mean, if it's friggin bad you can tell me._ "

" _Mira, cariño. It's actually good. Mami would be proud. And mi Abuelita._ " He gave him an assuring smile.

Carisi beams with pride, "T _hank you. Maybe I should try my hand at Masterchef_."

" _Those burnt eggs from yesterday beg to differ,_ " Barba coughs but musters up another smile.

Anyone else would have taken offence to that comment, but Carisi knew he meant well. He understood his brand of humour. Plus, he couldn't be mad at him, being sick and all. Carisi massages his shoulders a little, "Ok, one step at a time, but I will be on that show. You wait and see."

" _In do time, detective_ ," Barba teases as he relaxes under his touch.

" _Yeah,_ " Carisi says softly as he cuddles up to Barba. " _Now eat your soup._ "

-END-


End file.
